Truth or Dream?
by sevenofmine
Summary: Cardassia is starting a war against Bajor again and it starts with Gul Dukat occupying Deep Space Nine. Written with Garak as main character. Season 3
1. Dinner

**An idea I once had...**

„Chapter 1, dinner"

„Don't you want to sit down, Garak?"

Garak looked around and finally down where he saw Dr. Bashir sitting at their table where they usually dined Wednesday. He sat down and regarded the surrounding. It was Quark's bar on DS9. Surprised, Garak examined the person opposite to him.

"Everything okay, Garak?" Dr. Bashir asked.

"Oh, yes," Garak stammered, still a bit confused.

"So, tell me. What is the latest news?"

"News?"

"Well, about your tailor shop…or about the Cardassians."

"I don't know. You tell me about the newest rumors."

"Oh, since the Klingons failed to invade Cardassia Prime, we haven't heard anything from their new government."

"Me neither."

"But, actually, there were some rumors. That Gul Dukat managed to come back to Cardassia and become a member of their government, of course, some kind of military position."

"Really, and where do you have your information from?"

"Oh, I don't know. That's the problem. Starfleet commando had received some unofficial hints and don't know if they should trust them. I hoped you could bring in some clearance."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Garak stated, confused what this had to mean.

Suddenly, Julian was hailed: "Sickbay to Dr. Bashir."

"Bashir here."

"Please come down, we have an emergency patient."

"On my way," he said and stood up. "I'm sorry Garak. But we'll see each other on the party tonight, don't we?"

"Party?"

"Seven hundred hours, on the Promenade. See you then," he answered and left the Quark's.

Garak stayed sitting, still a bit surprised about the happening. He went down the stairs and passed the crowded bar. He sighed when he heard how Morn was loudly discussing the unfair prices with Quark and walked on to his tailor shop. It looked like always and he entered.

It didn't take five minutes, until the first customer stepped in. It was Lieutenant Commander Riddle, the new Security Chief of Federation, exactly same rank like Odo and they had to work together since Lieutenant Commander Eddington has officially joined the Maquis.

At least, Garak wasn't surprised to see _her_. He had been sure she was part of this. "What can I do for you, Miss Riddle?" he asked charmingly.

"Oh, you know about the big party of tonight, we're celebrating five years Deep Space Nine."

"How can I forget this?"

She smiled at him, which could make every man's heart melting, even a Cardassian one. "I don't have anything appropriate to wear. I thought you could help me," she answered.

She was very young for a Starfleet officer, especially for a Lieutenant Commander, only twenty-four years old, having graduated from Academy very early. She was human, at least what Garak thought and hoped, very tall for a woman, pale, black, a bit curly, long hair and the deepest black eyes Garak has ever seen.

"Of course,…Valentina," he smiled and led her through his shop. This could become interesting, he thought.


	2. Party

"Chapter 2, The Party"

"Oh, isn't she beautiful?" Dr. Bashir asked.

"Oh yes," Garak answered glancing at Valentina Riddle, chatting with Jadzia.

"Who are you talking about?" Garak asked and turned to the doctor.

"Jadzia Dax, who else?" he paid back and looked confused at Garak. "Who did you think about?"

"Oh,…nobody…"

"You surprise me every time," the doctor laughed.

"Why? Because I may also feel attracted to a beautiful lady?"

"Oh, no, because you feel attracted to Commander Riddle. She's here for just a few moths and I am scared for finding out what you're thinking."

"Oh, believe me, dear doctor. There's no way. She is twenty-four _and_ a Starfleet officer. And I'm just a tailor."

"You weren't a tailor your whole life."

"Oh, right. Before that, I was a gardener."

Dr. Bashir smiled and suddenly, Captain Sisko joined them from behind.

"Now, why only standing here? What about asking a lady to dance?" he proposed and passed them, hand in hand with Captain Yates.

"They're such a beautiful couple," Dr. Bashir mentioned. "I'm glad that I came back in time from Arvada III and didn't miss their wedding."

"Wedding?" Garak asked surprised.

"You really seemed a bit off these days, Garak" Bashir said and gave a pat on his back. Then he went toward the three ladies and moments later disappeared with Jadzia Dax toward the dance floor.

Garak noticed Shakaar entering through the doors, also walking toward Major Kira and Lieutenant Commander Riddle now. My chance, the Cardassian thought and also walked over. Now that Valentina was standing alone he whispered into her ear: "Planning something tonight?"

"Shouldn't we go somewhere more quiet? Follow me in three minutes, we'll meet in front of my quarters.

"Agreed," he smiled and she walked away. He sat down at the bar at Quark's.

"And what can I do for you?" the Ferengi asked in his usual nerved voice.

"Do you still have that Rokassa juice?"

"Of course. Nobody here drinks it except for you."


	3. Surprise

"Chapter 3, Surprise"

"Surprise? Doesn't sound too good," Garak said to himself while walking along the empty corridors. Everybody was at the party and he was glad Valentina promised that they could spend the evening alone. They always needed to pay attention that nobody saw them together, the Security chief of Starfleet and the spy of the Cardassians.

He walked around the corner and encountered Valentina leaning against the wall. "Have I already told you that you're so beautiful in that dress?" he asked smilingly. His light blue eyes staring down at her pretty face.

"No, not yet," she smiled back. Her dress was knee-long, her back was mostly free and the black underpinned the contrast of her white skin and her black hair. Her black eyes made it look perfect and he had to admit, that the look of her eyes could lightly scare him.

"You're so beautiful in that dress," he repeated and put his hands around her waist.

"Thank you," she whispered and took his head. "Let's go somewhere where we can see the stars. Everybody is at the party, so we don't have to care much for not being seen."

He nodded and still his hand on her waist they walked away. They entered a corridor with windows on the right side.

"Isn't that beautiful?" she asked and they stopped, staring outside. She leaned her head on his shoulder and Garak must admit that somehow he had really developed a sort of feelings for her.

He was torn out of his thoughts, when suddenly a quake rocked the station. "What was that?" he asked surprised and looked around. He turned back to the window in time to see how a disruptor hit the upper docking pylon.

"Fucking hell," he cursed and they shortly looked at each other before running back to the party. They entered the promenade and saw that action has begun here as well. "What happened?" Dax screamed and a Bajoran woman was lying on the ground next to her. Another quake occurred, presumably another disruptor hit. "We're under attack," he screamed as an answer.

"Everybody to battle station!" Sisko screamed as loud as he could. He had managed to get to a console and was now noticing the attack himself. He pressed his communicator: "Sisko to everybody. We're under attack. All hands on battle stations."

Then he walked over to where Worf, Dax and Kira stood. "Let's go to ops," he proposed but before anybody could do another move, main energy was gone and suddenly all light went out.

It took just a few seconds before emergency energy was on again, but all doors were locked. Nobody could leave the Promenade. Garak looked around for any explanation but it seemed that also the senior officers didn't have one.

Everything went quiet all of sudden and Garak saw why. Several people were beaming on the station, on the upper deck and on the lower one. And there was no doubt they weren't also beaming on the other decks. But Garak's breathe stopped when he noticed that all the intruders with rifles in their hands were Cardassians.

And only seven meters away from him, exactly in front of Captain Sisko, Gul Dukat was now standing, in a Cardassian military uniform.

"Surprise," he said and smiled at the scared people he saw.


	4. Decision

"Chapter 4, Decisions"

"Captain, nice to see you," Gul Dukat said and Captain Sisko stepped forward.

"Gul Dukat, I'm surprised to see you. I thought you were fighting against the Klingons in your old Bird of Prey?"

"Oh, ya. But I couldn't say no to an offer to lead Cardassians military again, could I?"

"Cardassians military? They're trying to solve everything diplomatic already," Major Kira asked.

"Oh, there were a lot of changes in the past few months. Things are becoming like they were before. Central Command was overthrown. Obsidian Order is back in action."

"Ah, I forgot, you always change sides to the winning one," Captain Sisko mentioned.

"No, I just went back as soon as I could. And now that we're back to powers, Cardassia is planning to occupy Bajor again…and in case that federation wishes to intervene, I think the Klingons would _love_ to take that chance to finally finish off one of their greatest enemy," Gul Dukat answered with the most charming smile he had.

"You can't do that!" Major Kira screamed.

"As you can obviously see, I can. My task is to take over command of Deep Space Nine. Of course, now called Terok'Nor."

"Starfleet Commando will never permit that, Gul Dukat. You know that," Sisko shouted, then added: "By the way, I locked the computer. I think I sensed that something stupid like that would happen."

"Stupid. Ha. You have no idea, Captain Sisko." Gul Dukat turned to his men. "Lock everybody up in their quarters. You'll find me on ops." He left without another word.

Garak was surprised when taken away by a Cardassian guard. He didn't protest and found himself five minutes later sitting in his own quarters.

"Great," he said and looked around. There was nothing he thought he could do now. It didn't take a minute until a Cardassian officer entered his quarters. "Gul Dukat wants to talk to you," he informed.

"He says so?"

"Yes."

"Sure he didn't say anything about torture?"

The officer didn't answer and without resistance Garak followed him to ops station. He looked around and only noticed Cardassians working on the system.

When he entered the Captain's office, the guard left him alone. Gul Dukat was sitting in his chair and examined the baseball on the table.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Garak asked curiously.

"Yes. One side of me wants to torture and kill you immediately. The other side…wants the same. However, I have made some promises a little while ago and I want to keep them. So, I need to know if I can count on you."

"You…count on me?" Garak asked really surprised.

"Will you support me in everything I do or do I have to lock you away like the rest of the crew?" Dukat proposed.

"What will you do to all those peoples? Enslave them again? And Starfleet and Bajor will fight against Cardassia. This will be a bloodbath, especially when you invite the Klingons to the party."

"Not if we can do that fast."

"You don't even have the station under your control!"

"As a matter of fact, I do have all power of the station. Here," he explained and typed in a few commandos on the screen behind him.

"How…how did you do that? Sisko said he locked all commands…"

"I had helped."

"A traitor! You had a traitor on Deep Space Nine. Only because of that you managed to fire through the shields, you could beam on the station and lock all escape doors!"

Gul Dukat didn't answer but simply stared at Garak, who had the same facial expression when Odo had found out that he had blown up his own shop.

"Do you want a job on Terok'Nor or do you want to spend the rest of your piteous life as a tailor and worker, together with all those Bajorans who still condemn you?" Gul Dukat finally asked.

"You may have the powers of Deep Space Nine, but not yet –"

"You think Cardassians new government didn't plan this thorough enough? We have infiltrated Starfleet and my spy could get access to some very classified files. This is a war we are meant to win!"

Garak hesitated. Of course he wanted that job back, especially when it meant torturing Bajoran workers. But then he thought about Commander Riddle, the first person he had really developed feelings for.

"You hesitate," Dukat stated. "Is it because of a woman?"

"What?"

"Oh, I know. On our old days we're becoming weak. I give you time to decide, Garak. This evening I will show how far I am willing to go. After that I demand that you decide if you want to be on the winning or the losing side this time…dismissed."

Garak still stared into nothing when the guards brought him back to his quarters. He needed to think about what Valentina would want him to do. Why the hell has he gotten in such a position? What was demanded from him? Was it a trick, a simple trap to expose him as spy, as traitor?

**Please review...resistance is futile.**


	5. Execution

"Chapter 5, Execution"

Not sounding good, Garak decided when the doors slid open. The Cardassian guards were collecting the prisoners to bring them to Promenade.

"This is ridiculous. Do they really think they can do that?" Dax asked.

"I think so," Sisko replied, curiously what this gathering had to mean.

They waited about five minutes on the lower deck until they saw Gul Dukat entering the upper deck of the Promenades. Cardassian guards were following him and Garak spotted Ziyal, Dukat's daughter standing up there.

"What is Ziyal doing there?" he heard Jadzia asking.

"No idea," Major Kira had to admit. "I hardly believe she's a great supporter of his actions."

"Dear population and workers of Terok'Nor. I will give each of you the chance to support me….truthfully. I will not tolerate any offenses against me or what we do. And to show you that I am willing to punish everybody who is fighting or saying anything against the Cardassian occupation, I demonstrate now the consequences," Gul Dukat explained and turned toward Ziyal.

Then he took a knife his guard was holding and stepped forward. "I should have done that one year ago," Dukat muttered when he stabbed the weapon into the flesh of his Cardassian-Bajoran daughter. The blood was flowing out of her body before she was slowing going down and her body hitting the floor.

"No," Kira whispered. "He couldn't have done that." Then louder she screamed: "Bastard! You're insane, you cruel bastard." Her eyes met for a second with Gul Dukat's ones, then he was turning around and without a work leaving the Promenade.

They were all brought back to their quarters, only Garak was led to Dukat's office again.

"Was it really necessary to kill your own daughter?" Garak asked.

"Says the man who was sent to exile by his own father," Gul Dukat answered sharply.

Garak did not reply.

"You killed my father. But I have no other option than to ask you if you want to join military or not!"

"Military," Garak said with a voice of disdain.

"Oh, I will promise you, in case of interrogations or torture you will the one I ask. That will be your post, hurting and killing other people," Dukat smiled and laughed shortly. "Or has Deep Space Nine made you so weak?"

Garak had to think about Valentina again and was confused if he should accept the offer.

"In case you doubt because of a very young, black haired lady and fear she wouldn't trust you and you grossed her out…don't worry," he said and nodded to the guard who was standing outside the office.

He came in and brought Lieutenant Commander Valentina Riddle. Then he left again.

"How did you know-" Garak started but Dukat intervened: "That you love her?"

Garak had to swallow hearing that word. He never wanted to really admit this. He had been spy of Obsidian order and Love was something he had never wasted a though with. Of course, he had enjoyed the presence of women, but never wished a serious relationship.

"What do you plan, Dukat? Kill her because I love her?" Garak asked sharply and aggressively.

"Ah, now you admit that…no, I won't kill her. She's the only one I can trust here on that station."

Garak looked at the woman in surprise. She smiled, but still looked at the desk.

"Miss Riddle had helped me to regain power on Cardassia. She had helped a resistance group to overthrow the government and to put in action High Command and the Obsidian Order again. She unlocked Sisko's try to prevent me from ruling this station and she had perfectly known about my plan to occupy Deep Space Nine. I don't think I'll kill her. By the way, I trust her more than my own men."

Garak turned to her, watching how psychopathic and evil her eyes actually looked. Suddenly a door appeared and he saw Dr. Bashir stepping in.

"Computer, freeze program," Garak said immediately. "Doctor, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, I heard you're out of Odo's arrest. I'm a bit disappointed you didn't tell me. What's this for a program?"

"Nothing special. It is very rude to enter a holoprogram someone else is running."

"Oh, I learnt that from you."

"Of course."

"You wrote that program?"

"No, Miss Riddle did. She gave it to me when I got out of Odo's arrest cell. Not the nicest place on this station, by the way."

"Ah, that explains…that," Dr. Bashir said and pointed at the frozen holofigur of their security chief. "What is it about?"

"Cardassian occupation of Deep Space Nine."

"And Commander Riddle wrote this?"

"Believe me, I was as surprised as you."

"Can we play this together?"

"Oh, I'm not sure if-"

"Computer, run program from the beginning, including Elim Garak and Dr. Julian Bashir as non-holographic characters."

"Run program. Choose simulation."

"Er…simulation one," Dr. Bashir answered while Garak only sighed. This is going to be a great surprise to him, he thought.

The Computer voice said again: "Loading simulation one. Remind: When you die during this program, it will start again from a certain point, with increased difficulty."

"_Increased _ difficulty?" Bashir asked Garak.

"That's Valentina," he simply said and smiled.

"Right."

The office vanished and they were on the Promenade, at Quark's.

"Sit down," Garak offered Julian a chair.

"Damn it!"

"Chief?" Sisko asked and looked over. The console threw sparks.

"I think I damaged…the security in the holosuites," O'Brien answered.

"Don't worry. You're here for repairing. But please first fix the replicators, the holosuites can wait," Sisko instructed and stepped down to assist the Chief with his repairing on ops station.

**Please review or you will be assmilated.**


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